Relaxed

Ahh feels like I've slept the weekend away...

Almost true.

I spent the weekend at home doing nothing but watching movies and sleeping. I think I averaged about 16 hours of sleep per day. I've still got red rings around my eyes from all that sleeping.

Last night, I decided to wake up at 7 and study for my midterm before going to class. What actually happened was, I woke up at 7, turned on my computer, logged onto kgs, then watched a ton of games. Also I watched a ton of Boston Legal episodes I downloaded. Around 11am, I was reminded to send in my group evaluations by 2pm. I totally forgot about this and had I not skipped class this morning, I would have lost marks for not sending one in. I watched some more Boston Legal then suddenly it was 6pm and I had to go get a coffee before I wrote my midterm. I went into the midterm thinking, 'how hard could it be?' Besides one question which just stumped me (later to find out that I missed the related lecture), the rest was pretty easy. I'm expecting at least 90%. (I should really set these expectations lower since they're never met)

Speaking of unmet expectations, I just got my OS midterm mark of 67%. I really thought I did well on that because I solved most of the tougher problems. I usually never bother with the short answers, because they're not really worth studying for but I still did expect around the high 70s to 80s region. The average for the course was 55%. I still beat out a lot of people I guess.

I haven't gotten my mark yet, but for another CS course, the average for the midterm was 59%. The post on the newsgroup described what most people missed, and I think I got them. Again, I didn't bother with the short answer questions for that midterm but I'm still expecting high 70s to 80s. I'll probably get it back tomorrow.

The averages seem low. Maybe they're just weeding out the weak... but I really hate to think that they'd do that in the third and fourth year courses. First and second years were a breeze; to do this now is being sadistic.

Whatever... All done! (except for the 4 assignments due this week... ugh)

Oh yeah, the new season of The Apprentice started today. I've missed it due to the midterm, but I'll be downloading it and watching it shortly! For now, I'll be watching some more Boston Legal.

Update (11pm): Just got my physics midterm mark: 72.5%. I really didn't expect such a high mark for this test to be honest. It was a pretty tough one even though it's a first year course. The average was 56%; looks like at least a third of the students failed the exam. The physics department has the right idea: weed them out early.

Update (the day after): On that CS midterm, I got 81.5%. Highest mark was 82%.

Still awake

Oh my goodness... Just finished off the project. I can't even sleep now because I'll be heading home in a couple hours (after a game of tennis).

*Yawn* x10

Incredibly tired right now.

Woke up at 4am, wrote two midterms and I've still got work to do before I head to bed.

Actually, right now I've got no work to do, but I'm forced to stay up. That's because my group hasn't sent me their parts yet so I could start working on it.

I've already told them I'd finish it up so I'm kind of obligated to do it.

It's very difficult to stay awake when you're waiting... not in anticipation of fun and joy but of work and agony.

So yeah, I'm really tired. Tired to the point of feeling a yawn caught in the back of my throat; tired to the point where trying to force that yawn makes me nearly vomit... I'm not kidding. Usually when you know a yawn's coming, you open your mouth to give it a little push. When I do it right now, I choke a little and feel like vomiting. I can only recall two moments in my life past infancy that I've vomited. I don't vomit much; only if I get drunk beyond belief. So you can really understand how tired I am.

I guess writing this entry is kind of busy work to keep myself awake.

Oh well, my break starts tomorrow at 2pm, so I'll hang on until then.

By the way, don't ever go into a midterm (without studying) thinking, "How hard could it be?" I got burnt 4 times so far this term... Come next Monday, I'll be sure to make it a perfect 5/5.

Game 5: Nice game

I've been playing as a guest a lot lately. It's not that hard to find games. I'm sometimes amazed though at how some people just decline requests by guests no matter what. They have free games open with different board sizes or have crazy ultra blitz settings yet they reject guests. Do they think they'll somehow not have any fun playing guests with those weird settings? Seriously crazy. Sometimes, I'll even be rejected by guests. That's the biggest shocker. Some people just don't get it.

Anyway, I played this game as a guest against another guest. I thought the level was quite high. Higher than the games I play with my 4k accounts. Care to guess which colour I played and the strengths of each player?
Time settings = 10:00 + 0:50*5; komi = 6.5

Moves 1 - 50

White 16 is an interesting answer to the pincer at 15. Normally White would play 18. 16 shows that White is afraid of Black's wall facing towards 13. Black answered 16 with 17 and it reduced to the normal pincer 3-3 joseki facing the other way. Black trades 25 for 26 and approaches at 27. 41 and 45 seem like mistakes and Black decides to go for the last hoshi at 47. Then White invades the last unsettled corner. Black chooses to block with 49 instead of 50 because White 26 is closer than White 10. After 50 moves, White has 4 fairly large corners while Black doesn't seem to have much. After finishing the 3-3 joseki, Black has roughly 60 points. White has roughly 60 points + komi. But I'm overestimating Black a little at the top and underestimating White at the right. So I'd say White has a lead of about 15 points.

Moves 51 - 100

Black chooses to go for the top with 73. White makes out with the top left corner and Black is forced to live on the left. White reduces the top with 94. After 100 moves, Black has roughly 76 points while White hasn't gained much (only reduced) and has roughly 62 points + komi. I'm still underestimating White on the right probably.

Moves 101 - 150

Here's where White really slips I think. White didn't bother playing the ko in the center and connected with 112. When Black takes the ko with 113, White should make a safe connection move. While 114 is a threat to connect to the right, it's not very safe, so Black cuts with 115. Black prevents the connection on the right and now White has to live in the center. However, Black makes a couple critical errors. 135 should be played at 39 first. White should immediately live with 139, but White gives Black a chance. Black's second mistake is the trade of 143 for 144. This reduces Black's liberty and forces him to play at 149 instead of one right of 148. This mistake allows White to live starting with the sequence from 150. White captures the block containing 117, 119 and 121 to live. Compared to the last figure, there's a swing of roughly 24 points in favour of White. So White is up roughly 10 points + komi.

Moves 151 - 185

Black has to catch up 16.5 points in the endgame. This is where Black should resign, but Black decides to play on. To Black's delight, White makes a mistake in judgment. 172 is certainly large. However, I think it is better placed at 175. If not, 174 should be at 177, allowing Black one more push at 174. After White connects, Black's push at 175 would still be sente. I think this is as big if not bigger than 172. It became even bigger because White played the way he did. 175 should be responded to with a move like 183 or 177. Black captures a large chunk of White's corner with the sequence to 183. White made another mistake by taking another large point at 184, but not living with 185. However, the game was already decided. White resigned here.


Like I said, I thought this game was of high level while I was playing it. This is probably because I didn't know the rank of the opponent. When I know the opponent's rank, I kind of know what kind of moves I can try and what kind of moves they know how to punish. While I try not to play with that knowledge, I just can't help it. It's a really bad habit. It's probably why I'm not improving much lately.

Playing a guest or someone with a ? is really fun. I think you play some of your best games when you find someone decently strong (i.e. not a total beginner) yet are uncertain of their rank. I find it a great way to break through that habit.

Before, I used to advise against playing against guests, but now I think everyone should try playing guests. There's no harm since it's a free game, and you can leave the game (just resign) at any time if you find that your opponent is much too weak to have fun.

Game 4: Unbelievable

I played this game against a 6k on KGS. I am White and this is a 2 handicap game.

Moves 1 - 50

Moves 51 - 89

Black resigned here. Are 6ks on KGS really this weak? I'd think the 7k from my other posted game could give this guy at least 3 stones if they played. How can this guy maintain a 6k rank? It's just unbelievable. Time settings were 10:00+0:30*5, so it couldn't have been time pressure.

Guess

Deep meaning behind this one...

What a week

My hellish week is finally over.

Wrote a couple midterms Tuesday and Wednesday, then stayed up all Wednesday night, only to find out in the morning that the two midterms on Thursday were cancelled due to bad weather.

Other than that, I had meetings with my project groups and even got a haircut! Yep, dinos need haircuts too.

Next week there's a reading break starting Thursday. Reading week is supposed to be all week, but since I'm in the Math faculty, it's only two days long. Next week won't be so easy going though. One of the midterms from Thursday was rescheduled to Tuesday, and I already had one scheduled for that day. Also, a large project is due Wednesday.

Right now, I'll just be working on OS and watching the rest of Boston Legal that I've missed.

Boy, do I envy my friends not in the Math faculty going to Florida tomorrow...

Blogger

It's a great service and it's free so I can't complain... but I really hate this system right now. It gives me a "republish again in 10 minutes" every other time and occasionally doesn't allow a republish for hours. What's really frustrating about the "republish again" screen is that it doesn't even give you a button to republish. I either have to hit back and click republish or edit my template then save the template to get to the page with the republish button.

I don't know if it's just me or a subset of blogger users but I'm pretty sure it's not affecting everyone. I wish they'd give some information like posting something on blogger status. It doesn't indicate anything that would cause these errors to persist.

I'd get my own webspace, design my own site and host a blog on there, but I don't have time until summer.

Oh well. Long live Blogger. Long live Google.

Trekkie goes bankrupt

This attention whore transformed his own home into the starship while accumulating £100,000 in debt. I've got nothing against Trekkies (well I probably do), I just never understood their fascination with Star Trek. I was never able to sit through an entire episode. Never seen it, but I think I'd enjoy the older ones with Shatner... maybe (watch him on Boston Legal!).

The only time I got through an entire plot was when I watched Nemesis with friends at the theatres. I probably would have walked out had I not paid for the popcorn.

Anyway, even with my view against Star Trek and Trekkies, I gotta say the apartment doesn't look too bad... but I doubt it was worth going bankrupt for.

One thing that caught my eye was the microwave in the kitchen. It instantly got me thinking, 'Do they even eat on Star Trek?' I don't recall ever seeing anyone eat in the movie or the few minutes I've spent watching some episodes. Probably wouldn't heat it up in the microwave though, right?

I read that he was planning to get other Trekkies to pay him to transform their living quarters in this fashion. Make a career out of it. He tried to sell his apartment for $2 million on eBay. It's unfortunate that he thought other people might want to live in a place they couldn't bring their girlfriends to at night.

By the way, tomorrow is Valentine's. The fake holiday when you buy your better half lots of gifts, yet are forced to go to work or attend class, or in my case write a midterm.

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AD is over

Yes that's right fans, Fox aired the last four episodes of Arrested Development Season 3 last night. I add that "Season 3" bit because it is possible for AD to be picked up by another network to continue the series.

I really didn't like how they ended Season 3 though. It doesn't seem like there's much of a story to continue. I'm not going to spoil the ending here. Granted, most of the deeper plots never got wrapped up and the writers of the show are geniuses that can come up with brilliant ways to start new ones, but I just don't see a nice transition from Season 3 to a possible Season 4.

I was never a creative genius though. I'd love to see a Season 4. Arrested Development was one of those shows that got my life going. Something to look forward to every week (meaning that the last few weeks have been hell for me). For now though, AD is over and I'm not going to keep my hopes up that there will be a fourth season.

Now there are three shows I'll be watching each week: House M.D., The Office, and Boston Legal.

I haven't mentioned Boston Legal, but I'll be fair to ABC right now. Boston Legal is a brilliant show about a firm. It's a spin off from The Practice. I've only watched a few minutes of The Practice (when it was just starting out) and I can't even connect the two shows together. The Practice seemed like a really serious Law and Order type of lawyer show. Boston Legal is more of a light comedy. William Shatner is fantastic in it. It's just a really great show. Currently in Season 2.

P.S. Please support AD by buying Season 3 when it becomes available on DVD! Buy the other seasons if you haven't already! (Buy them even if you already have them)

Game 2: *Yawn*

So tired these days. It'll be even worse come next week. I've got 4 midterms in a span of 3 days.

I should be studying right now, but I'm playing go. I've been playing really well lately. Got most of my accounts to 4k or higher on kgs. I really ought to try and get them higher but oh well (I'll just let them drift up a bit). Here's a game that got one of my accounts to 4k:

My opponent is 7k and this was a 2 handicap game.

Moves 1 - 50

After 50 moves, the board is clearly in Black's favour. Two very solid corners and a large right side. I estimate about 60 points for Black if his positions are simply reduced and not invaded. White has roughly 55 points counting the same way but Black's positions are much more solid. Also note that the life of White's group on the left hangs on a ladder. White can choose to play lightly against that stone should it run, but White would be left with a group with no eyes and Black is already one up against it on both sides.

Moves 51 - 100

I played 51 in preparation of a corner invasion or to cut off the stone and chase it around while securing my left group. Black didn't take the bait though and didn't start running with it. Instead, he landed in at 54, a reduction. I think it would be better placed one lower as an invasion and take away all that white territory. White never had any prospects for the outside anyway with that black thickness on the right. After the double hane at 59, 61 was almost too perfect for white to miss. White then cut off the group from the right and started his own in the middle. Black played 82 in gote so white invaded deeper into the right with 83, hoping to attack Black's lower right or upper right. Black played 88 to defend the bottom right and a huge attack ensued on the upper right group.

Moves 101 - 150

Black made out with his group while leaving White without two eyes in the middle. Black probably could have gotten out better and attacked the attacker. White captured 2 stones with 139 and Black played a safe connection move with 140. White then began a large ko with the sequence from 141 to 145 (to the right of 134). Black made a huge mistake with his ko threat, not realizing the worth of this ko fight. White filled the ko at 147 (at 132) and killed Black's middle group while Black had to kill White's left group with one more move. Black has roughly 62 points while White has roughly 90 points. White was already in the lead and once again had sente.

Moves 151 - 185

After 161, Black must secure his corner. Black got careless and played the gote sequence 164-166. White killed the corner with 167 and was now over 60 points ahead. After 185, Black lost by time and I was promoted to 4k.

I thought Black played well at first, but played too many slack moves and gave away sente too much. Of course, this is expected in handicap games, but I didn't expect so much in a 2 handicap game. Black missed his chance to attack white's middle group and that was his biggest mistake. It wasn't a great game for me either but this game was 3:00/25 which is about 7 seconds per move and I really suck at blitz.

P.S. I won't tell you what my accounts are.

Objective view

The tough thing about go when you're starting out (mid kyus and even up to dans) is that it is hard to judge a position objectively. Most of the time, you'll think you're way behind or the position is better for your opponent. It'll look like your opponent's territory is bigger and more solid even when the situation is equal for both sides. It's that thing about the grass being always greener on the other side.

This is especially confusing when you're starting to learn josekis. After you play it, it seems like you're in a far worse position than you really are. Why? Josekis are supposed to lead to equal results. It should be good for both players. The fact is, the result is equal for both. The situation is bad for both players.

The phenomenon is pretty simple to explain. The flaws in your positions are always on your mind. This is because most players have a defensive view of things. Even attackers need to keep in mind the weaknesses of their groups. You always want to make sure that your opponent can't attack your groups strongly. What you don't notice are the flaws in your opponent's positions. Sure, you'll be figuring them out as you play, but you will prioritize your groups first, your opponent's second.

If you're struggling to get stronger because of this simple phenomenon, do what Apple says. Think Different. Prioritize the weaknesses of your opponent's groups first, your groups second. Always be on the offensive. You'll start seeing all the weaknesses in your opponent's position and when you switch back to your original style, you'll know from experience that your positions are both not as great as you thought.

Another way to get over this hurdle is to play a lot of games. Don't play the same joseki over and over again unless you play it from the other side from time to time. Play like your previous opponent. Find out what they were thinking when playing against you. Eventually you'll be able to know what they're thinking while they're playing against you.

Always take a look at things objectively. Don't let your colour cloud your judgment.

Funny thing is, this applies in real life too. This isn't so surprising since I've already used that grass is greener line already. Always think things through in an objective view. A lot of mistakes can be avoided. Do things right, think different.

P.S. I hate Apple.

House M.D.

I must seem like a real loser, blogging two Friday nights in a row... but you know, even pimps work Friday nights. Anyway...

While the Leafs won a game against Florida to end their losing streak, another one is beginning. They're playing Washington today, and while I expect them to win, I've got a strong feeling they'll lose. Pat Quinn was on Leafs Lunch today and was talking about a bunch of things like Stajan getting less ice time, how he's had to make a lot of changes due to injuries and pairing up Sundin with Lindros. Because of the way he answers hot topic questions, it was interesting and not interesting at the same time.

Enough about the Leafs...

I haven't gotten much sleep this week. Been pretty busy with school and watching House M.D. season 1.

House is a great show. If I had a medical degree I'd confidently say as a doctor, "This show is da bomb!" with emphasis on being a doctor. You should watch it. It probably helps to know what they're saying, but some people (not me I swear) just like to hear people say medical terms like "stat!" and "CT scan".

It was funny when House said something about afternoon delight which instantly reminded me that this show is on the same network as the other show I've recommended to others in the past, Arrested Development.

What makes this show great (at least in Season 1) is Dr. Cuddy. A brilliant woman, who's the head of the entire hospital. House just loves to make trouble for her and she loves to make him miserable. They have duels of wits in every episode and it's really enjoyable to watch. However, they both respect each other and the great chemistry between them really makes this a wonderful show... and I haven't even mentioned the main plot of the show or the comedic displays of the protagonist.

Other cast members include doctors Cameron (an emotional trainwreck), Chase (who loves his job but hates the work) and Foreman (a juvenile gone clean). Also making frequent (more than once per episode) appearances is his best and only friend Dr. James Wilson.

It's been on a long break, but Fox will start airing new episodes next Tuesday.

Another show to watch out for is The Office. It seems to be a very low budget show, but it's definately better than 99% of other shows. It's on NBC on thursdays. (Now you can't say I'm a FOX fan [which is funny because I have a beanie from FOX the racing gear company])

I'd recommend more shows to watch, but I don't watch that much TV.